Pilot Breaks Down Fixed-Wing Aircraft Landing at NYC Heliport

Downtown Manhattan's piers and barges were not designed to accommodate airplanes. They are the domain of helicopters, whose vertical capabilities counteract the limited space.

But according to Electra CEO Marc Allen, Monday morning marked the "first time that a fixed-wing airplane has landed" at Manhattan's Downtown Skyport (KJRB).

Electra test pilot Cody Allee demonstrated two takeoffs and landings at the heliport using the company's EL2 demonstrator, and he even wowed a crowd of about 100 spectators with a few low-speed maneuvers.

Allen said the event was the first time the manufacturer has shown the EL2's capabilities publicly in such an environment-"right at the doorstep of the country's greatest city."

The EL2 lands at the Downtown Skyport in Manhattan. [Video credit: Jack Daleo]

"[The Downtown Skyport] is trafficked every single day by helicopters that come in the dozens," Allen told the crowd. "What we're doing is demonstrating what it looks like when regional mobility can be opened up to the entire world with the affordability of a fixed-wing airplane."

Allen said the Downtown Skyport provides a landing area about 300 feet long. But J.P. Stewart, Electra's senior vice president of product development, estimated that Allee used just 100 feet for takeoff and landing. The demonstrator was also remarkably quiet, its noise signature barely perceptible amid New York City's soundscape.

Though it is only a prototype, Allee told FLYING that the EL2 is unlike any aircraft he has flown, offering a unique blend of maneuverability and safety.

Pilot's Perspective

With the Statue of Liberty behind him, Allee flew toward the Downtown Skyport from the southwest then entered left traffic for landing. He went around once to avoid overflying ferry traffic, then landed. Green diamonds on either end of the barge guided the test pilot's alignment, and a small "L" marked the desired touchdown zone.

After taxiing to the other end of the barge for some quick checkouts, Allee took off on a southwest heading. He did a lap around Governors Island before making a few tight turns over the barge at about 40 knots.

Stewart said the EL2 uses a wing identical to the Cessna 172's "from the wing box forward," modified with some reinforcements, motor mounts, and a new flap and aileron. Allee said that in terms of handling, the demonstrator flies just like the 172, despite being 600-700 pounds over the Skyhawk's gross weight.

"The wild part is that now, you can fly it at really high angles of attack and get it very slow," he said.

When maneuvering at low speed like he did Monday, Allee said he typically does about 40 knots indicated airspeed at a 20-degree angle of attack. The 172 will stall at an 18-degree AOA, but Allee has flown the EL2 at a 40-degree AOA with no stall buffet.

Test pilot Cody Allee maneuvers the EL2 at a leisurely 40 knots. [Video credit: Jack Daleo]

"If I were to pull the power off, we'd stall instantly," he said. "But with the power on, I'm at 40, 45 knots doing 20 alpha, and it just makes the speed-and thus the turn radius-really, really tight."

Conventional wisdom will tell you to fly with the rudders while doing stalls because "you feel like you're on the head of a pin, waiting to fall off on a wing one way or the other," Allee said. But with the EL2, "you don't have to worry about that." Both the demonstrator and EL9 are designed with blown-lift aerodynamics, redirecting airflows over the wing.

"I've got full control because you're blowing air over [the wing]," Allee said. "So the wing doesn't stall. [The airflow] doesn't separate. It doesn't change your control inputs even when I'm down to 25 knots."

The test pilot said he can use the ailerons to keep the wing level and that the airplane is "perfectly happy" at a 35-degree AOA doing 25 knots.

"By blowing the wing, it sees what the propellers give it, not what the free stream is doing," he said. "Basically, you make your own lift. You've got a collective that allows you to add power in a helicopter, essentially lift. The throttle does the same thing in this airplane."

The demonstrator is also remarkably resilient. Its small jet engine converts jet-A or sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to electricity to power eight motors, with the combination of two batteries and a conventional turbine providing power. Monday's demonstration used all three power sources, but the airplane can take off using only one.

"Any one of them I can lose, and it doesn't change the power available, and it really doesn't change the handling qualities at all," Allee said. "If I lose one of the sources of power, all eight motors still run."

The EL2 demonstrates ultra short takeoff capability, using only a fraction of the barge. [Video credit: Jack Daleo]

He said that since the architecture provides differential thrust, it lacks a minimum control speed. The EL2 can continue to fly straight even if a motor is turned off.

"Even though it's a multiengine airplane…I have started my takeoff roll with an outboard motor turned off," Allee said. "So if I lose a motor, if I just put normal intuitive control inputs in, the airplane has enough authority basically to compensate. If I lost an engine in a [Beechcraft] Baron, it's gonna be a lot of work. I'm not nearly as scared of losing a motor on this as I am on my Baron."

Expanding the Envelope

As impressive as the EL2 is, it is only a glimpse of what Electra is building. The airplane was "built to be a technology demonstrator" to validate blown-lift aerodynamics, flight controls, and system management, Stewart said.

Electra originally planned to land at the Downtown Skyport on Friday. But winds were estimated at 12 knots gusting up to 22, "which was likely to create a bunch of eddies," Stewart said. The company set a 5-knot gust limit for the demonstration for safety reasons, forcing them to move it to Monday.

"We actually had to set narrower limitations for this test airplane…in the spirit of doing things right and safe," Stewart said.

But Electra's "real product," the clean-sheet EL9 Ultra Short, will face fewer limitations in order to "operate consistently in all weather, on all days, from a variety of different environments," Stewart said. Electra aims to begin EL9 flight testing in 2027 and achieve certification by 2029.

The larger airplane will have capacity for two crew and nine passengers, flying over 1,000 miles at about 175 knots. But the "magic is that it will do that in the same takeoff distances as the EL2," Stewart said.

He described the EL2 as a "crude airplane" that required certain design compromises due to its Skyhawk-derived wing. However, it will give Electra the "understanding" to "confidently design" the EL9's clean-sheet wing, which he said will be a "big, full-span, slotted flap."

Stewart predicted the production model will double the demonstrator's lift coefficient and have a 15-knot crosswind component, making it perfectly suited to flying in Friday's windier conditions. It will also be capable of flying IFR and into known icing conditions.

Like the EL2, the EL9 is designed to use hybrid-electric propulsion and blown-lift aerodynamics to enable operations with only 150 feet of ground roll. Those features are intended to unlock what Electra describes as access points that will not be limited to dedicated airfields.

"You might go to a conventional airport and use a runway," said Stewart. "You might use an ultra short access point at a conventional runway, one of the parking lots, or remote parts of the terminal. You might go to a mall with an ultra short access point."

Allen added that the larger EL9 will beat the range and payload of a helicopter at a fraction of the operating cost.

"This is an airplane that gives the operational performance of a helicopter," he said. "So it's access like a helicopter, but it is the efficiency, the payload, the range, the cost affordability of a fixed-wing airplane."

Put together, those advantages are intended to enable what Electra terms " direct aviation ," or flying passengers directly from where they are to where they want to go for business, leisure, and other purposes. As a potential access point , the Downtown Skyport could enable time savings of about 3 hours and 45 minutes for trips to Boston, 3 hours and 30 minutes to Washington, D.C., and 45 minutes to Philadelphia.

Electra said Monday that it is partnered with more than 60 airline operators that intend to operate regional direct aviation routes.

The EL9's runway independent capabilities could also support defense missions, including distributed operations and logistics. Electra is working with Lockheed Martin's secretive Skunk Works unit and also has contracts with the U.S. Army and Air Force with those operations in mind.